The Red Shoes

Album: The Red Shoes (1993)
Charted: 21
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  • Oh she move like the Diva do
    I said "I'd love to dance like you"
    She said "just take off my red shoes
    Put them on and your dream'll come true
    With no words, with no song
    You can dance the dream with your body on
    And this curve, is your smile
    And this cross, is your heart
    And this line, is your path

    Oh it's gonna be the way you always thought it would be
    But it's gonna be no illusion
    Oh it's gonna be the way you always dreamt about it
    But it's gonna be really happening to ya
    Really happening to ya
    Really happening to ya"

    Oh the minute I put them on
    I knew I had done something wrong
    All her gifts for the dance had gone
    It's the red shoes, they can't stop dancing
    And this curve, is your smile
    And this cross, is your heart
    And this line, is your path

    "Oh it's gonna be the way you always thought it would be
    But it's gonna be no illusion
    Oh it's gonna be the way you always dreamt about it
    But it's gonna be really happening to ya"

    She gotta dance, she gotta dance
    And she can't stop 'till them shoes come off
    These shoes do, a kind of voodoo
    They're gonna make her dance 'till her legs fall off

    Feel your hair come tumbling down
    Feel your feet start kissing the ground
    Feel your arms are opening out
    And see your eyes are lifted to God
    With no words, with no song
    I'm gonna dance the dream
    And make the dream come true
    I'm gonna dance the dream
    And make the dream come true

    She gotta dance, she gotta dance
    And she can't stop 'till them shoes come off
    These shoes do, a kind of voodoo
    They're gonna make her dance 'till her legs fall off
    Call a doctor, call a priest
    They're gonna whip her up like a helicopter

    Really happening to ya
    Really happening to ya

    You gotta dance Writer/s: Catherine Bush
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 3

  • Anna from Ny, NyYes, it is a fragment of a fairy tale. Clarissa Pinkola Estes talks about the story at length in _The Red Shoes: On Torment and the Recovery of Soul Life_. This may be more than Kate Bush was thinking of when she wrote it, but the analysis is really cool and worth checking out. It tells the whole story and what the red shoes symbolize.
  • Philip from Akron, OhKate's inspiration this song was a movie (which is not unusual for her), Michael Powell's 1948 "The Red Shoes". Later, she met the director, and she wrote about THAT (among other things) in a song, too ("Moments of Pleasure").
  • Rob from Vancouver, CanadaIsn't this a Hans Christian Anderson fable?
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